


The Forest

by SilenceWanderer



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 09:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14375721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceWanderer/pseuds/SilenceWanderer
Summary: Rei, a somewhat reclusive vampire, has lived for a long time in his cabin in a dense forest without approaching any of the other inhabitants. This all changes when fate leads him to adopt two fox spirit cubs who pave his return to community.





	The Forest

**Author's Note:**

> ...Anyway hi yes I know I shouldn’t be starting another fic but this has been slowly building in my head for a while and it’s that cliche canon AU everyone has already done before so this has no reason to exist but it does, because I’m an idiot and the majority of this was written after midnight because I don’t have a sleep schedule.   
>  Don’t have any hopes for me. I don’t want to drop this but I can’t control my inspiration.   
> (Most of this chapter has been sitting since July 2017.)

It was just another normal, quiet day as Rei opened his eyes, staring up at the slanted wooden ceiling above him. It was unusually dark for so late in the day, the sun scheduled to burn through any obstruction, but his ears quickly picked up the patter of rain outside, eyes squinting to observe a lazy grey sky. But rain itself was hardly something that would wake him, normally, even nearly sleeping through thunderstorms before his brother would shake him, pressing to his side with a weepy tone, asking for a hug to shield from the noise. Rei hummed softly at the memory, lips a faded smile, before he heard something else- that other noise that had been nearly drowned out by the rain, a crying not unlike his brother’s during his younger ages. Maybe it was that old, nostalgic sense of duty that drove him to stand up, wincing at the stiffness of his back, and venture towards the front of his cabin. Going outside at this time normally would be practically suicide for a vampire like him, severely weakened by the sun, but the mewling from just beyond his door was too pitiful to ignore. He would face the consequences later. 

Cracking open the door just slightly, wincing as the wood groaned and strained against its tethers, he saw nothing at first- but looking down revealed what seemed like two children, huddled close to each other under a drenched blanket. The meager overhang above his door had barely shielded the two, and every particularly vicious drop that hit them made one squeak, curling closer to the other as if to steal warmth. 

Rei couldn’t stop staring, frozen even as the two continued to whine, in their tiny chirping voices, about the state of the rain. Memories passed through his mind- of the disappearance of his own parents, his primary raising of Ritsu as best as he could, a small whisper inside him of “can you take them leaving you again?” 

But for all of the nasty reputation vampires had, orphaners and insidious killers, Rei could feel something inside him break a little, seeing those children. He couldn’t leave them, that was certain, and so he pushed away all the doubts in his head and bent down to pick the two up. Damp, cold, unpleasantly heavy, but it all died away as they reacted to the dry safety he offered and shoveled their faces into his chest, complaints dying down into purrs. Eyes softening, Rei lowered his face to whisper a “it’s okay” to the two before turning around to walk inside, wondering what to do next. 

Now that he had the time to observe the two more, he realized he really didn’t know what to do with them. From the brown-tipped ears that poked out from their hair to the likely-bushy tails that were barely visible from under the drenched blanket, they were clearly foxes. This only served to confuse him- he could understand humans abandoning their children, a selfish act he had frequently witnessed during his centuries of travel before he had settled down in this forest, but a fox spirit? Maybe it was a mistake that he had taken them in, and they were only left by his home while their parents foraged. But looking back at the two, he shook his head and sighed. “It’s not as if I could just leave them in the rain,” he murmured aloud, and one of the children sneezed as if in response before letting out another mewl. 

“Yes, yes,” Rei answered patiently, moving to give a glance to the simple closet that stood in the corner of his room. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.” He lay the two on the center of his bed, cautious of the possibility that they could roll off, and headed to the closet. Kneeling down, he began to rummage through one of the drawers for any spare clothing. It would be much too big for them- after living alone for so long, he lacked any sizes other than his own- but it would at least serve as covering and warmth for the two for now. While there were mostly the linen kimono he was most fond of, some of his old clothes still remained from when he had to blend in with humans in their towns, and he thoughtfully picked out a black hoodie from the bunch, brushing the dust off it. 

He stood, shaking the fabric a bit more before carrying it back to the bed and gingerly placing the children onto it. As he suspected, it was massive compared to them, but the polyester would keep them warm, at least, and together- this seemed to be a priority to the two, who nuzzled one other and held tight with small hands, refusing to allow the other to move further away than necessary. Carefully lifting the two within the hoodie, Rei placed them beneath the blanket, carefully seating himself beside them, zipping the garment up just slightly in order to more effectively restrict their movement. The distressed mewls had long died into quiet purring and slower, sleepy breathing, a sound that reassured him. At least they had not caught a cold from the rain, though it sounded like it would not stop for some time, still reliably battering the roof and windows with a vengeance reserved for badly-timed rainstorms, it seemed. 

For all the confusion of that evening, one thing was clear to him; he had to take care of them. But more importantly, how? Much of Rei’s own diet consisted of blood sucked from small woodland creatures, the dehydrated meat they left behind, and the occasional berries or mushrooms, should he find any that he knew weren’t poisonous. Would that suffice for children, even if they were fox spirits? What else would he have to know? 

He nervously bit the inside of his lip, careful not to let his fangs draw blood. He knew there were others out there in the forest, both corporeal and not, who gathered together. But in the time (a century? two? perhaps even three?) that he had occupied the cabin, shortly after the death of its previous inhabitant to an unrelated incident, he had never had much of a reason to interact with them, even avoiding them outright to protect Ritsu. A bitter taste creeped up his throat at the memory, and he shook his head, looking gently back at the little ones who lay next to him, deep in sleep. For now, all he would do was sleep. Tomorrow, he could think about what he would need to do. Carefully sliding down, he stretched his top arm out to rest over the two, as another precaution, to at least not find them on the floor in the morning. 

He closed his eyes, steadied his breath, attempted to sleep. 

_Food. Clothes. Socialization (was that needed?). Shelter, should his cabin fail. Care. Care..._

_Was he adequate?_

**Author's Note:**

> Rei wears a similar outfit to the (Hydrangea) Rei card, just with a simpler single-color pattern. The twins, as expected, will wear an outfit similar to (Ghost Fox) Hinata. When new characters appear, I will either specify their outfit or the card which it resembles if such is applicable.


End file.
